Method and contrivance for leveling the coal charge of coke ovens



Mamh ML 1941.. KQPPERS 22345325 METHOD AND CONTRIVANCE FOR LEVELING THECOAL CHARGE OF COKE OVENS Filed Jan. 3, 1939 2 Sheets-Shet* 1 A. KOPPERSMamh WL mmw E FOR LEVELING THE COAL CHARGE OF COKE OVENS METHOD ANDCONTRIVANC Filed Jan. 3, 1939 2 Sheets-Shaet 2 Patentecl Mar. 11, 1941PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND CONTRIVANCE FOR LEVELING THE C`OAL CHARGE OFCOKE OVENS August Koppers, Bochum, Germany, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Koppers Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation ofDelaware Application January 3,

1939, Serial No. %9,092

In Germany January 3, 1938 i 7 Claims.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for leveling the coalcharged through the oven roof into the oven chambers of coke ovens forthe production of gas and coke.

The leveling of the coal in coking-ovens, particularly in horizontalchamber ovens into which the coal to be coked is charged throughcharging openings arranged in the oven roof, was done heretofore usuallyby means of a leveling beam which is introduced into the oven chamberdirectly below the oven roof through a suitable opening in the ovendoor. This leveling beam is attached to the pushing machine.

I have developed a new method for leveling the coal charge in the cokeovens by which the use of the heavy levelng beam and the disadvantagesconnected therewith are omtted. I have found that a uniform leveling ofthe coal charge of coke ovens may be obtained by blowing vaporous orgaseous medium under pressure, for instance steam, into the parts of thecharge near the charging openings, by means of suitable nozzlesintroduced through said charging openings from above down to the levelwhich corresponds to the place of the chamber where the gas collectingspace has to be formed by leveling the coal charge.

The present invention is preferably carried out in such a 'way thatbefore the charging of the 30 coal into the oven chambers, the pipelines supplying the gaseous or vaporous pressure medium are introducedthrough the charging openings of the oven chambers at a suitable levelcorrespond-` ing to the desired height of leveling. The lower ends ofthese pipe lines are preferably in form similar to a T-piece withnozzle-like openings and preferably are inserted into the oven chamberin such a way that the axis of the nozzles lies parallel to the chamberaxis. The pressure medium blcwn through these pipe lines into the upperpart of the oven chamber forces the coal, accumulated in the chargingopenings, to both sides whereby the coal still contained in the chargingopenings falls downwards and fills up the cavities formed between theadjacent charging openings.

The method according to the invention as well as the apparatus necessaryfor carrying out the method have the special advantage of beingconsiderably simplified Compared with the prior usuai method of levelingby means of a leveling beam. Not only the leveling beam itself but alsothe levelng opening in the oven door, provided for the introduction ofthe beam into the oven cham ber, are rendered unnecessary. The drvingdevice for the leveling beam usually connected with the pushing machineis omitted, and the whole pushing machine may be of a considerablyeasier design.

The pipe line which serves to blow the pressure medium into the upperpart of the oven chamber may be connected according to the presentinvention with the charging lorry travelling over the oven roof.

According to my invention, I provide the charging lorry with hoppers,the outlets of which are of a larger free cross-section than thecharging openings provided therefor in the oven roof, and arrange aunnel-like member around each outlet of the coal hoppers, the-crosssection of the lower opening of saidfunnel like member correspond'ngessentially to the cross section of the charging opening providedtherefor in the chamber roof. Through the free space provided betweenthe hopper and the funnel like member are introduced the pipes forsupplying the pressure medium, and in this way the pressure mediumsupply may easily be performed and regulated by the operator supervisingthe charging lorry.

With the above and other objects and features of my present invention inview I.will now describe a preferred embodiment of my invention on thelines of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section through a charging lorry showing thepressure medium sup ply pipe introduced into the oven chamber, and

Fig. 2 is a front View of the charging lorry according to Fig 1 as wellas a longitudinal section through the top of an oven chamber.

The top of the chamber, of a coke oven battery with horizontal cokingchamber ovens, is marked I. The oven chamber l is formed usually by theheating walls 2. In the oven roof 3 of the oven chamber I is arranged amultitude of charging holes 4. The distillation gas evolved during thecoking process is discharged through the opening 5 arranged in the ovenroof at one end of the oven chamber and then through the ascensior pipe6, as well as through the collect- 4 ing main 1. On theoven roof 3 thecharging lorry '9 travels over the rails 8. The charging lorry 9 has `anumber of charging hoppers ID corresponding to the number of chargingholes to be .attended to simultaneously. The charging hoppers !ll filledwith coal are fitted below with an outlet the cross section of which islarger than' that of the charging holes 4 in the oven roof and areclosed by a segmental valve l I which is op erated from the serviceplatform by means of levers and rods !2. Round the lower part of thecharging hoppers l are funnel-like members or funnels |4 with openbottoms. said charging funnels are enlarged within the range of thecharging hoppers n in such a way that when the segmental valves Il areopened, they may place themselves into the free space formed between thecharging funnel wall 4 and the charging hopper wall ID so that upondischarge of the coal, the latter may pass out quickly and without anytrouble through the outlet of the charging funnel |4. On one side ofthis free space !5 thus formed, a pipe !6 is laid between the hopperwalls. The pipe may be lifted or lowered from the service platform l3either by hand or by means of a special lifting device. To the pipe !6at the top is connected a flexible pipe ll (metal hose or the like)which connects the pipe !6 with the pipe IB, which is commonly arrangedfor communication with pipes !6, I l, for all charging hoppers Io andwhich is firmly connected to the charging hoppers.

Along the oven battery on brackets 30, which latter are fixed to theascension pipes 6, there is arranged a main delivery pipe 26 providedwith branch pipe lines 25 arranged always approximately in the centerplane of each oven chamber. The branch pipes 25 are equipped with valves24 which may be operated from the service platform |3 of the charginglorry 9.' The pressure medium supply pipes |6 are formed at their lowerend similar to a T-piece and are brought into the oven chamber in such away that the axis of the T-piece commonly runs with the axis of the ovenchamber.

The pressure medium supply pipe I B passes through the cap !9,connecting both the funnel !4 and the changing hopper m, through anelongated hole 20. The drawings show the pressure medium supply pipes inOperating condition inserted into the oven chamber. The lowerrnostheight to which the pipe I& reaches in chamber l is limited by apreferably adjustable annular disc ZI fitted to the pipe IS.

The leveling procedure of the coal charge by means of the apparatusaccording to the present invention is carried out as follows:

After the charging lorry 9 is driven over the open cha-rging holes 4 ofthe oven to be ?filled with coal, first of all the individual pressuremedium supply pipes s are lowered separately or by means of a commonOperating device through the charging openings 4 into the upper part ofthe oven chamber I at the necessary height, common for all the pressuremedium supply pipes. The telescopic pipe 23 of the outlet of thefunnel-like member !4 is then lowered by means of the hand lever 22 ontothe oven roof Whereupon the segmental valve I is opened so that the coalmay enter the chamber. If the funnels are empty immediately aftercharging, in which case the charging openings 4 of the oven roof arestill filled with coal as may be seen from Fig. 2, the valve 24 of thepipe 25 leading from the main pipe 26 is opened. The gaseous or vaporouspressure medium, for instance the steam present at each coking plant,fiows through the T-piece lying approximately in the middle of thecharging cone if seen in horizontal direction, and throws the coal toboth sides. In

this way the free spaces 29 formed between the charging cones are filledand the charging openings are emptied so that a continuous free gascollecting space is formed.

As shown in F'g. 1 the coal charge of the oven chamber I, if only oneT-piece like outlet for the pipe |6 is arranged within the range of thecharging cone 28, forms a trough-like surface. When two or several lowerT-piece like outlet branches are arranged at the lower end of thepressure medium supply pipe !3, the surface of the charge can also beleveled horizontally, as seen in a vertical cross section of the ovenchamber (Fig. 1).

I have now above described my present invention on the lines of aprefe'red embodiment thereof but my invention is not limited in all itsaspects to the mode of carrying it out as described and shown, theinvention may be variously embodied within the scope of the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In a method of charging a narrow coke oven chamber which involvesfilling coal into the chamber through a charging hole in the oven roofuntil the coal accumulates in the form of a cone in the charging holethus obstructing free passage of gas from one side to the other of thecharging hole over the top of the chamber charge to an oiftake for gasin the oven roof, and leveling the coal in the top of the charge toremove the cone of coal and thus form a continuous free gas collectingspace, the improvement comprising: eecting the leveling by blowingaeriform medium into the parts of the coal charge in the region of thecone of coal and thus force the coal in the region of the charging holealong the top of the chamber beyond the charging hole so that coal stillcontained in the charging hole falls downwards leaving a continuous freegas space under the charging hole and filling cavities in the top of thecoal charge 'beyond the charging hole.

2. In a method of charging a narow coke oven chamber which involvesfilling coal into the chamber through a charging hole in the oven roofuntil the coal accumulates in the form of a cone in the charging holethus obstructing free passage of gas from one side to the other of thecharging hole over the top of the chamber 3* charge to an ofitake forgas in the oven roof, and leveling the coal in the top of the charge toremove the cone of coal and thus form a continuous free gas collectingspace, the improvement comprising: efiecting the leveling by blowingsteam into the parts of the coal charge in the region of the cone ofcoal and thus force the coal in the region of the charging hole alongthe top of the chamber beyond the charging hole so that coal stillcontained in the charging hole falls downwards leaving a continuous freegas space under the charging hole and filling cavities in the top of thecoal charge beyond the charging hole.

3. Apparatus for charging a narrow coke oven chamber comprising meansfor filling coal into the chamber through a charging hole in the ovenroef until the coal accumulates in the form of a cone in the chargnghole thus obstructing free passage of gas from one side to the other ofthe charging hole over the top of the chamber charge to an ofitake forgas in the oven roof, and means for leveling the coal in the top of thecharge to remove the cone of coal and thus form a continuous free gascollecting space; and in which the means for leveling comprises meansfor blowing aeriform fluid medium into the parts of the coal charge inthe region of the cone of coal and thus force the coal in the region ofthe charging hole along the top of the chamber beyond the charging holeso that the coal still contained in the charging hoie may fall downwardsleaving a continuous free gas space under the charging hole and fillingcavities in the top of the coal charge beyond the charging hole.

4. Apparatus for top charging coal into coke oven ohamber having a coalfilling opening and a gas offtake in the top of the oven chanber, saidapparatus comprising, a charging lorry mounted to travel over the oventop to position its charging hopper into and out of register withthecoal filling opening in the chamber top, a pipe adapted to supplygaseous pressure medium to coal fed through the coal filling opening,said supply pipe being mounted on the lorry for travel therewith andattached thereto so that after the hopper of the lorry is directly overthe filling opening the supp ly pipe then may be lowered from the lorryinto and through the coal filling opening into the chamber in positionto blow coal aside from immediately beneath the coal filling openingwhile the charging hopper of the lorry is in register with the openingduring charging, and thus level the coal charge in the chamber, and thenwithdrawn after the charging operation.

5. The combination with a coke oven battery of narrow coking chambersarranged in a row and having coal charging holes in the roof of eachchamber and a gas otake at an end thereof, and a coal charging lorrymounted for travel over the oven roof from chamber to chamber, ofhoppers on the lorry corresponding to each of the charging holes in theoven chambers with valved outlets larger than the charging holes,funnels for the outlets surrounding the same with a clea'ance, a gaseouspressure medium supply pipe extending through each funnel and mounted tobe raised and lowered through the same into and out of the' ovenchambers through the charging holes in the oven root to level the coalby blowing it away from beneath the charging holes, a header on thelorryfor feeding fluid pressure medium to the supply pipes, and a maindelivery pipe along battery oven roof having branches at each.

oven for connection with the header on the lorry.

6. The combination with a coke oven battery of narrow coking chambersarranged in a row and having coal charging holes in the roof of eachchamber and a gas offtale at an end thereof, and a coal charging lorrymounted for travel over the oven roof from chamber to chamber, ofhoppers on the lorry corresponding to the charging holes in therespective oven chambers, pipes adapted to supply gaseous pressuremedium to coal immediately below the charging holes in the chambers tolevel the coal by blowing it away from beneath the charging holes, saidsupply pipes being attached to the lorry, one for each hopper, so as tobe lowerable from the lorry into and through the charging holes into theoven chambers after the hoppers are in position over the charging holes,a header on the lorry for the supply pipes, and a statonary maindelivery pipe along the oven roof of the battery having means forconnection with the header on the lorry at various places along thehattery to supply the gaseous pressure medium to the supply pipes fordelivery to the different chambers of the aforesaid row thereof.

'7. The combination with a coke oven battery of narrow coking chambersarranged in a row and having coal charging holes in the roof of eachchamber and a gas ofitake at an end thereof, and a coal charging lorrymounted for travel over the oven roof from chamber to chamber, ofhoppers on the lorry corresponding to the charging holes in therespective oven chambers, pipes adapted to supply gaseous pressuremedium to coal immediately below the charging holes in the chambers tolevel the coal by blowing it away from beneath the charging holes, saidsupply pipes being attached to the lorry, one for each hopper, so as tobe lowerable from the lorry into and through the charging holes into theoven chambers after the hoppers are in position over the charging holes,and means for supplying the gaseous pressure medium to the supply pipes,

AUGUST KOPPERS.

